New programs, faces at NCSC

MANSFIELD – Students attending North Central State College will see some new programs, new faces and an Honors College starting this fall.

The new semester beings Aug. 25.

Gregg Busch, the dean of liberal arts at NCSC, said a new study abroad program in China at the Confucius Institute is expected to be in place spring semester. NCSC students will be able to travel to China for three weeks for global and cultural experiences.

Several new associates of arts and associates of science degrees have been added over the past year, Busch said.

“This is a new direction for us as a comprehensive community college to create these pathways for our students to complete their first two years of a baccalaureate degree and transfer on to other colleges and universities to complete their degrees,” Busch said.

Starting this fall, NCSC is introducing the NCSC Honors College.

“This means for the first time, we will be developing special opportunities for students who come to us who are exceptional students. It will focus on giving them opportunities to earn credit in courses and that credit will be translated into honors credit,” Busch said.

Jari Luomakoski, a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from Finland, will join the Division of Business, Industry and Technology this fall. With a PhD in economics, he will bring an international perspective to campus while teaching business, marketing and entrepreneurship courses, while assisting with entrepreneurship and culinary arts.

Greg Timberlake, dean of Business, Technology and Public Service, said Luomakoski earned entrepreneur and business doctorates at Purdue University and his dissertation was on failed entrepreneur start-ups. Luomakoski teaches at a school in Helsinki, which specializes in hospitality and sports management.

“He’s also coming to help us explore the culinary programs at the career centers,” Timberlake said.

In other areas, Timberlake said students this year will use some new equipment. The college received an Ohio Board of Regents’ $264,000 grant for a “fab lab” at the Kehoe Center in Shelby, which is for prototyping.

“Anything you want to make and design in terms of product, by January we should be able to help anyone produce a copy of an item you want as a new product. This will help our engineering students, our graphics students and it will have laser printing and 3-D printing and CNC machines. It should help our entrepreneur program with students making things,” Timberlake said.

A $2.9 million Department of Labor grant is in process, with training offered for area residents in industrial readiness, he added.

The College NOW program at the Kehoe Center also has seen a 25 percent increase in the number of high school (junior and senior) students taking classes in engineering, business and bio-science. College NOW bio-science students complete lab work as part of their instruction at the Ashland County West Holmes Career Center. Twenty-five students are enrolled in the business program; 31 students in the engineering program; and 23 students in bio-science, according to the college.

Students also will notice physical changes at North Central State College off Lexington-Springmill Road. The college received a nod of approval in July when the state Controlling Board released $676,883 in capital funds for renovations and equipment at the college’s Health Sciences Center. The renovation is expected to be done by fall.

“We are pleased that this project is getting underway so early in the new fiscal year. The renovations to the health science building include a new laboratory for bio-science and chemistry, updated technology and infrastructure improvements that will enhance the education for hundreds of NC State students each year,” said Dorey Diab, president of North Central State College.

“We are excited to take this important step in the process, and look forward to a timely completion this fall.”

NCSC spokesman Keith Stoner said the project also includes a new computer lab with 20 new computer stations and updates to the main entrances for energy conservation.

The renovation is expected to be done by fall. The college also received approval for $93,000 for renovation and equipment purchases from Custom Fabricators in Cuyahoga County for the project, according to the controlling board.

Jim Hull, dean of Health Sciences at NCSC, said the renovation will provide the needed space and equipment to take the bio-science program to the next level and allow the chemistry department a space for overflow from the Conard Hall laboratory.

Hull said bio-science career fields include research, medical devices like pacemakers and agricultural pesticides and fertilizers.

He said in other areas, students in the physical therapy assistant program and nursing programs will have electronic documentation systems in place in the classroom and labs allowing students to adapt when they do their internships in medical facilities. The systems mimic what students will use in the real world.

Students also will be able to earn a coding and billing system certificate starting this fall, Hull said.